Bill Graham Interview (1977)
By Joelle Steele (Nancy Martelli)
From 1965 through the 1970s, I went to just about every concert in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas. I saw everything from the Beatles to Monterey Pop. At the heart of the SF area concerts was impresario and promoter Bill Graham who opened some of the old ballrooms in San Francisco to a host of rock groups. This interview was held in his office at Bill Graham Presents in San Francisco. It was in the evening around 5:30 p.m., and he was almost an hour late. But it was worth waiting to meet the man at the heart of the San Francisco music scene.
NM: Tell me about your early life.
BG: That’s a long story, but I’ll be brief. I was born in Germany, shuttled over to France to escape the Nazis, then on to a foster home in New York City. Eventually I went to college and got a degree in business.
NM: And where did you go from there?
BG: I got drafted and detoured to the Korean War. When I came home, I worked in the Catskills in upstate New York. This was when they were a major destination for vacations and entertainment.
NM: How did you end up in San Francisco?
BG: I moved here because my sister was here. Only a few of us survived the Nazis, so family was the most important reason for coming here.
NM: How did your career in concert promotion come about?
BG: Well, I met producer Chet Helms. He staged free concerts in Golden Gate Park and other venues. He was the first to create psychedelic light shows. He was also the man who brought Janis Joplin into Big Brother and the Holding Company. Anyway, I began working with him to organize a benefit concert and we ended up promoting free concerts together. Then we opened up some of the old ballrooms – the Fillmore and Winterland.
NM: You created a home and management for local bands – Grateful Dead, Country Joe, Big Brother, Jefferson Airplane …
BG: Right, and many others. It was an important time, not just in music, and not just here in the Bay Area. People, young people in particular, were trying desperately to promote civil rights, world peace, U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, fairness to farm workers, and you name it. If there was a cause to be fought, American youth was leading the way. And so many of these causes are still reflected in today’s music.
NM: Tell me a little about the ballrooms.
BG: Sure. At first, we had to rent venues, and this wasn’t always convenient and we didn’t have much control over availability dates or sound equipment, ya know. I knew Charles Sullivan who held the lease on the Fillmore. He booked all the best R&B acts there. He was a great guy who gave me my big break in concert halls with my first Fillmore concert. It was a fantastic venue. I doubt I could have found anything better at the time. There were some problems obtaining a dance permit, but that was eventually resolved. Sadly, I ended up closing the Fillmore a few years later.
NM: You got more involved with musicians too?
BG: Yeah, very much so. I managed Jefferson Airplane for a year or so and I took a stab at the record business – Fillmore Records, San Francisco Records.
NM: But you went back to promoting in other venues?
BG: Right. I reopened Winterland and Fillmore West. Started the Day on the Green concerts. Brought acts to the Cow Palace, Kezar Stadium, the Oakland Coliseum.
NM: Fillmore West was once the El Patio Ballroom, wasn’t it? My parents met there in 1947.
BG: Yeah, it was also the Carousel Ballroom. Probably a few other names too. That was in the Big Band days. Great music. Your parents must have liked to dance.
NM: Yes, they did, and my mother used to go to the El Patio with her friends on weekends. The ballrooms were great places to meet eligible men.
BG: And that probably hasn’t changed much at the current Fillmore West either (laughs).
NM: So, in closing, what do you like most about what you do?
BG: Everything. Just being privileged to work with so many talented musicians in such a beautiful city. I love it here.
NM: Any advice for aspiring concert promoters?
BG: Sure. You know, success always looks like it comes overnight when you first hear about it. But it’s a lot of hard work, and it has its ups and down. Some very big ups and downs. But you have to stick with it. Never, ever give up.
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